Ruud ruled out with knee injury

Monday 12 April 2004 23:00 BST

Prolific striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will again be missing from the Manchester United line-up to face Leicester tonight after failing to recover from a knee injury.

He should be fit for Saturday's trip to Portsmouth but Sir Alex Ferguson has decided against playing the 26-goal Dutchman at Old Trafford tonight as United try to close the six-point gap on Chelsea in the chase for second place and automatic Champions League qualification.

However, skipper Roy Keane is likely to return after missing the win over Birmingham, while Cristiano Ronaldo is also in line for a start following his fine second-half performance at St Andrews.

Leicester skipper Muzzy Izzet knows the pressure is on his relegation threatened side and said: "There's a long way to go yet but we can't keep saying that every week. Time is starting to run out and we've got to start winning games. That's the only way we'll get out of trouble.

"It's difficult to judge how many points are going to be needed to stay up but we've always set a target of between 40 and 45 for safety."

Leicester are expected to be without Les Ferdinand, who has a knee injury, and Callum Davidson, who has a groin strain.

Manchester United v Leicester, Old Trafford, live on pay-per-view TV, 8pm)